I enjoy Douglas Corleone's colorful, action-packed Kevin Corvelli mystery series, set in Honolulu, Hawaii. Now he introduces a new lead, former U.S. Marshal Simon Fisk. Haunted by the loss of his daughter Hailey when she was six and by his wife's subsequent suicide, he works privately to 'retrieve children abducted by estranged parents who flee to countries that don't recognize U.S. custody decisions.' But he will not take on stranger abduction cases - the memories of his own loss overwhelm him.

However he's given no choice. In Paris, police Lieutenant Davignon tells Simon (who has just retrieved a child in Bordeaux) that if he doesn't investigate a stranger abduction, he will be jailed for his prior assignment. Six-year-old American Lindsay Sorkin was taken from the hotel where her family was staying, while on holiday in Paris. There have been no ransom demands. Her parents are desperate and the French government don't want to deal with the inevitable 'international media circus'. Simon agrees to give the case twenty-four hours of his time.

The elusive trail that Simon uncovers leads him to Berlin, and to Warsaw, where he meets a lovely young lawyer, Anastazja Staszak. When she learns of her missing boss's involvement in the kidnapping, Ana joins Simon's quest to find small Lindsay. It takes them across Poland, violence escalating en route, and to a human trafficking organization in the Ukraine. It ends in Belarus, where many still die from the aftereffects of the Chernobyl disaster. There, Simon and Ana finally learn why the child was taken.

Good as Gone is a typical Corleone thriller, jam packed with action and violence, but addressing some important issues at the same time. This looks like an exciting new series, worth following.

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